Pa. Legislator Exchanges Gunfire With Would-Be Robber

A Pennsylvania state representative fired gunshots at an armed robber, who fired back after demanding money from him and another legislator in the capital, Harrisburg, on Tuesday night, news reports say.

Nobody was struck or injured in the exchange of bullets between Rep. Marty Flynn, a Democrat from Lackawanna, and one of four teenagers who were later arrested and charged as adults with attempted homicide and robbery in the foiled holdup.

Harrisburg police said an assailant approached Flynn and Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, a Democrat from Erie, around 11 p.m. just blocks from the Capitol building and, pointing a firearm at Bizzarro's head, demanded their wallets.

An accomplice stood across the street giving instructions, police said.

Flynn, a former prison guard who is licensed to carry a firearm, drew his weapon and fired, and was in turn fired on as the gunman fled, reports say.

Flynn told a regional newspaper, the Patriot-News, that the experience was "surreal."

"You don't know what's going through their mind," he said of the assailants. "But I am going to defend myself. I'm not going to be a victim."

Harrisburg police said the gun used in the robbery attempt was recovered, and they also said Flynn acted appropriately in defending himself, the Times-Leader newspaper reported.

The two first-term lawmakers are in the middle of the state's legislative session. They had spent Tuesday at the Capitol and gone to dinner with colleagues, and were heading home when they were accosted, according to a statement posted on the Pennsylvania House's official website.

The statement said Flynn and Bizzarro had both returned to the Capitol on Wednesday morning for what was expected to be a busy legislative day.

Bizzarro posted a thank-you to well-wishers on his Twitter and Instagram feeds, writing, "I'm blessed and honored to serve you. The show must go on. Let's work."

A Pennsylvania state representative fired gunshots at an armed robber, who fired back after demanding money from him and another legislator in the capital, Harrisburg, on Tuesday night, news reports say.